The invention disclosed herein relates generally to settings for confining articles, such as gemstones and other similar articles. More specifically, the invention relates to one-piece setting constructions and a method of stamping and pressing one-piece settings.
Settings, also referred to as findings by those in the jewelry industry, may be used to confine a gemstone or other ornamental article. Traditionally, the setting comprises a base with a number of prongs extending angularly upward from the base, where the ends of the prongs are used to confine the gem. In a diamond ring, for example, the base of the setting mounts to the ring shank, and the prong ends of the setting confine the diamond. The number of prongs and their placement on the perimeter of the base is dependent on the size and shape of the gem. The prongs may be straight, V-shaped, or shaped otherwise. V-shaped prongs may be used as a receptacle for confining the gem between the prong ends distal to the base.
Traditionally, there have been two methods of forming metal settings in the jewelry industry: casting and impressing. Casting generally relates to a method wherein metal is poured into a negative impression of a setting to form a positive copy of the setting. By contrast, impressing generally relates to a method wherein metals blanks are die-stamped, pressed, cut, trimmed, and/or folded, etc. in order to obtain a positive copies of setting components for future assembly into the final setting.
Both of these methods have their disadvantages. For example, the structure of a casted setting has a relatively high degree of porosity, thereby causing the casted setting to be weak and brittle. This high degree of porosity is inherent to the metallurgical structure of the casted setting. In addition, casted settings require substantial amounts of labor after the setting is casted, because the surfaces of casted settings are rough and the edges are ill-defined. These aesthetically displeasing characteristics often require laser polishing and/or other detailed and expensive attention before the setting is marketable.
Impressing, on the other hand, traditionally comprises the use of dies and presses to die-stamp a plurality of shapeable pieces from blank metal pieces. To build a setting, each of these plurality of pieces would be formed into the shape of half of a ring, with a prong on both ends (a “prong pair”). The prong pairs are then attached at their middles to form the appearance, but not the structure, of a single base with multiple pairs of prongs. Impressing does not require the shaping of melted metal and thus yields a metal setting of relatively low porosity. In addition, the structure of impressed blank metal is stronger than that of cast metal. Blank metal can be cut to form well-defined edges with surfaces that are not brittle. This facilitates minimal polishing subsequent to the impressing process. There is significant loss of metal in producing casted setting, and there is a substantial decrease in the amount of metal lost in the die stamping process.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,574 (“'574 patent”) discusses a setting and a method of making a setting having a conventional prong pair and a v-end prong pair. Each prong member has two prongs and is made from a single length of material. The V-end prong member is made by die pressing the material, blanking the material, and bending the material so that the V-ends face one another. The conventional prong member is attached to the central portion of a V-end prong member. Thus the '574 requires a minimum of two pieces of metal. It also requires the manual attachment of the metal pieces. U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,156 discloses further examples of settings that were formed utilizing the pressing, blanking, etc. of a plurality of metal pieces.
However, in the '574 patent, for example, the disclosed setting is not a unitary structure and still requires the step of attaching prong members together. This is an extremely cost-inefficient and labor-intensive method of forming metal settings. The attachment of prong members to each other requires that the prong members are soldered, jointed, or otherwise secured together. This requires the utilization of skilled tradesmen and, furthermore, may yield an aesthetically unpleasing setting, having superfluous solder, for example.
The present invention overcomes the collective disadvantages of both casting and impressing, and simultaneously embraces their collective advantages. Herein is disclosed a method of impressing a setting from as little as one piece of blank metal, thereby eliminating the cost-inefficiencies associated with attaching pieces, maintaining the high strength and relatively low porosity of impressed metal, and minimizing the possibility of sloppy, aesthetically unpleasing, soldering mistakes. Also disclosed is a method of impressing from a blank a setting having at least one receptacle end, such as a V-shaped receptacle end, for example. The method produces a setting, disclosed herein, that surpasses the prior art in terms of structure and method of manufacture.